Protest in the Sost Dry-port

Traders and people have been protesting for more than a month at the Sost dry port. On September 23, 2025, the Federal Government of Pakistan, the Gilgit-Baltistan government, and the traders' association agreed to end the protest, and it was decided to allow the people of Gilgit-Baltistan to trade up to 4 billion PKR with tax exemption.

The agreement hasn't addressed structural challenges. This agreement opens the door for mega corruption, which has been widely practiced at the Sost Dry Port. It allows customs authorities and traders to manipulate tax exemptions. The people of GB demand two things: either they are integrated into the constitution of Pakistan as its fifth province, or there will be no tax on their business and income. 

GB does not enjoy equal rights, and it is not a constitutional province of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It has been inaccurately associated with the Kashmir issues. Since 1947, GB has been governed by a primitive governance structure, where a political agent decided the administrative affairs of the region until 2009, when GB got its own provisional legislative assembly.

The federal government of Pakistan has delineated some powers to GB, and the highest offices have been governed by the federal government. This partial governance structure has pros and cons. The people of GB don't have the right to collect taxes and have been exempted from all taxes. Sales tax has been levied, but income tax is exempted. 

The legislative assembly is a tootles tiger. The region has been underdeveloped. It lacks infrastructure, governance, basic necessities, and human development. Every year, the federal government provides charity funds for the administration and governance of the region. Most of this grant has been used by federal security organizations, transferred to burgeoning and corrupt federal officials, and salaries for dormant government departments. 

Sost dry port is the economic bloodline for the region. There is no private sector and no other options for livelihood. Taxing the trade will further weaken the economy and the well-being of the people. 

People have time and again demonstrated their frustration with the impartiality and incompetence of the Pakistan government. The deliberate negligence and lukewarm treatment from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan have kept the people of GB in a vicious circle of poverty and underdevelopment. 

Every year, one governance issue is resolved, and another comes up. Last year, a protest went on for months over the forced appropriation of land by the federal government. The government has been depriving people of human development. It is using the same tactics and keeping people busy with unproductive and irrelevant issues. Their best strategy is to take control of the region on the pretext of security and the wider Kashmir issue. 

I am afraid that these tactics will backfire. In the last sit-in, the people of Skardu wanted to march toward the Indian part of Ladakh. The GB has its own history. The brave people of GB have fought for their independence from British occupation and gained independence without any assistance from Pakistan. 

The people of GB have been subjected to oppressive measures by the government of Pakistan. The consecutive protests and the lukewarm treatment from the federal government have united the people, and the young people have now become aware of the false flags.

The protest in Sost dry port demands that there will be no tax without representation, and the agreement made between the authorities hasn't addressed the long-standing constitutional and political rights of the people of GB. This and other long-standing issues would resurface in the near future if the Federal government of Pakistan remained oblivious to the demands of GB.